This invention relates to a safety package consisting of a container and cap wherein the parts are designed to inhibit the opening of the package by children; and more particularly to such safety package for containing hazardous substances either in tablet, particulate, or liquid form.
This invention is concerned with safety packages of the type which are described in applicant's prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,880,313 and 3,880,314 issued Apr. 29, 1975. Safety packaging of the type with which this invention is concerned, is sometimes referred to as "child-resistant packaging"; and the purpose of such packaging is to provide suitable containers for hazardous substances such as dangerous drugs, insecticides, cleansing compound, poisons or other substances which will be particularly hazardous to children if stored in containers which are readily opened by children.
A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved safety package of simple design, enabling the economic manufacturing and marketing of such package.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a safety package consisting of only two parts which are suitable for fabrication by injection molding techniques.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a safety package which is particularly suitable as a package of very small size for enclosing a stack of pharmaceutical tablets for example, and which has a clean-cut and aesthetically pleasing appearance.
A still further object of this invention is to provide such a safety package which is completely sealed to prevent loss of the enclosed material and to prevent the entry of contaminants into the package.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a safety package which is suitable for containing particulate and liquid materials as well as materials in tablet or other solid form.
A further object of this invention is to provide a safety package, particularly adapted for use as a small package, wherein the amount of material required for fabricating the container and cap is minimized for producing a package having a desired internal volume.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a safety package adapted to be sealed against the entry of contaminants; and wherein the outer diameter of the container neck and the cap may be reduced, in relation to the designs of applicant's eariler patents, while maintaining the same diameter at the container neck.
These objects are accomplished in a fluid tight safety container and cap combination which comprises a container having a neck portion comprising a generally cylindrical annular wall, and a cap having a base with a peripheral skirt projecting axially therefrom for receiving the neck. Interengageable locking elements are provided on the outer wall of the container neck and on the inner wall of the cap skirt, with both the container locking elements and the cap locking elements being spaced peripherally from each other. The cap locking elements are engageable with and disengageable from the container locking elements through combined axial and rotative motion of the cap relative to the container. An annular, flexible member is formed on the distal end of the neck, as an extension thereof, and has an outer annular free end disposed in a plane perpendicular to the neck and the flexible member. The cap has an internal annular sloping surface disposed between its base and its locking elements, which sloping surface is engageable with the free end of the flexible member to exert an axial biasing force between the cap and container when the locking elements are engaged.
More particularly, the annular free end of the flexible member is compressed radially inward by the sloping surface to provide both the axial biasing force and also a seal between the container and the cap.
The novel features and the advantages of the invention, as well as additional objects thereof, will be understood more fully from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.